Using plastic beads, fake gold chains, medals, toy swords, lengths of artificial ferns, and cowrie shells, Hew Locke alters and obscures a photograph of a statue of King Edward VII that is sited in the historic slave port city of Bristol, England. The cheap plastic embellishments hiding an image of historic power and veneration reference global commerce, the ubiquitous, incessant production and shipment of goods that emerged from the slave trade. Locke’s intervention on this photograph is part of his series Restoration, which explores the visual languages of colonial and post-colonial power and how different cultures fashion identity through symbols of authority, whose own meanings and significance may change over time. ⁠ ⁠ hewdjlocke⁠ #21cMuseum⁠ #blackhistorymonth⁠ #21cArtist⁠ ⁠ Hew Locke⁠ Edward VII, 2006 (Detail)⁠ Chromogenic print with mixed media